Compatibility of data has eluded organizations whose computer systems need to exchange information with other organizations' computer systems. Many organizations maintain data within their own computer systems in formats and in structures that are unique to their own businesses. As a result, when these computer systems interact with other organizations' computer systems, problems arise due to incompatibility.
Incompatibility may be caused by using incompatible data elements. For example, one system may define a particular data element as alphanumeric, i.e., capable of representing alphabetic or numeric values, while a second system may define the same data element as numeric only. Thus, if the first system transmits the data element with an alphabetic value to the second system, the second system will reject the data element because the data element is not numeric. As a result, the systems are unable to communicate with each other and become incompatible because of incompatible data elements.
In addition to incompatible data elements, the format of files in a computer system may also lead to incompatibility. More computer systems are being developed using newer technology, such as relational databases. On the other hand, many mainframe-based computer systems built in the past, known as legacy systems, use flat files or multi-value files (a type of flat file) rather than relational databases. This disparity in file format leads to incompatibility problems. For example, one file in a computer system may be stored as a relational database, while similar or necessary information may be stored as a flat file in a second computer system. If the first computer system attempts to access (i.e., view and update) the flat file in the second computer system using commands designed for relational databases, such as structured query language (SQL) commands, the second system will reject the attempt because the flat file cannot be accessed using relational commands. The same problem occurs regardless of the type of file structures used in the respective systems, and may also occur in electronic communication involving more than two systems. Thus, the systems are unable to communicate with each other because of incompatible file formats.
Another problem that arises when computer systems exchange information with each other is the possibility of breaches in the security of the computer systems. When a computer system can be accessed by external entities, such as other computer systems, it is vulnerable to security breaches, including data corruption and infection by computer viruses. Thus, there is a need to be able to exchange information among computer systems while maintaining the security of the computer systems.
As the number of entities exchanging information increases, so does the number of different computer systems using different data formats and different file formats. Accordingly, one computer system may be unable to communicate with another computer system due to incompatible data and/or file formats. Thus, there is a need for compatibility among different computers systems, while ensuring the security of the computer systems.
More specifically, client applications have been developed that utilize various database formats to organize information. These systems use format-specific commands to request information from databases. For example, in a relational database, an SQL request extracts information efficiently and quickly. However, there is a problem with this approach. The client applications that utilize a given database format cannot access information from a target database utilizing an incompatible format. This, in turn, results in the need for the client applications or the databases, or both, to be extensively modified to allow communication. Hence, a frustrated need exists to allow client applications to access, such as by viewing and updating, other applications that may utilize incompatible target databases, with no modification of the client application or the target databases.